Bayern is always considered a contender for any competition it is playing in. As the overwhelming powerhouse of German football, it has long been the team to challenge the elite clubs and has become the Bundesliga representative most likely to conquer Europe by winning the Champions League.
But the recent 2-1 win away against Paris Saint-Germain suggests that we might be about to witness something very special. Nothing is won in November (aside from the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup, of course), but Bayern is looking good to lift multiple trophies this season. If you were to read a Lucky Revel review in order to decide on placing a bet, it is likely that your next decision would be to back Bayern.
Bayern has already won the Supercup, but there is a real chance that it could also claim the Bundesliga title, the DFB-Pokal, and the Champions League as well. Die Roten has only ever achieved that feat on one occasion, and it looks as though it could come close again in 2025-26. Can Bayern really win it all this season?
Total Football
Bundesliga fans have gotten quite used to Bayern steamrolling its way past suddenly hapless opponents. But it is the manner in which Vincent Kompany’s men are playing that is making everyone across Europe sit up and take notice. Bayern might not have invented total football, but it is possibly the finest current exponent of the style.
Manuel Neuer has long played almost as a defender, but it has been very noticeable that players throughout the team now don’t rigidly stick to conventional ideas about their positions. Harry Kane is probably the best example of this. The England captain used to drop deeper and spray passes across the pitch when he was at Spurs, but he has extended his repertoire since moving to Munich. He is still scoring tons of goals, but he is just as likely to be found playing a searching ball out of his own penalty area to start an attack.
Elite Head Coach
Vincent Kompany didn’t particularly enjoy his first experience of football in Germany. After leaving his hometown club of Anderlecht, he spent two seasons at Hamburg, where he experienced injury problems and issues with the club itself. It was only when he was signed by Manchester City that he proved himself to be one of the finest defenders in world football.
His managerial career didn’t start off quite as successfully. He was unable to fulfil a dream of winning trophies with Anderlecht as its head coach, and then he enjoyed promotion – but then immediate relegation – with Burnley in England. There were still some question marks over his coaching talent when he was appointed by Bayern in 2024.
Kompany won the Bundesliga in his first year in the job, and followed that up with the Supercup triumph in August. The fluidity he has brought to the Bayern team has enabled it to win every single game, at the time of writing, and he has to be considered one of the best coaches in world football at the current time.
DFB-Pokal
So, can Bayern win every trophy going this season? Let’s start with one that is probably considered lowest in terms of priority for Kompany and his charges. It is also the competition in which Die Roten has experienced the longest current trophy drought. Bayern hasn’t won a DFB-Pokal title since 2020.
If Bayern were not to win the cup this season, but ended the campaign with the Bundesliga and Champions League titles, it probably wouldn’t be that much of a deal for anyone connected to the club. Kompany’s side will, no doubt, do everything it can to lift this trophy in Berlin next May, but the other competitions are far more important.
Bundesliga
By the time Bayern beat PSG in Paris, it was also the only team in Europe to have won every single game it had played so far. The race for the title already seems to be a one-horse race, with the likes of RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund playing catch-up and hoping for a monumental slip-up from the Bavarian powerhouse.
Bayern is scoring at a rate of over 3.5 goals per game and barely conceding any. It kicked off the season with a thumping statement of a victory by six goals to nil against RB Leipzig and has not eased up since. Dortmund has also been beaten, and it is very hard to see where the challenge for the Bundesliga title will come from this year.
Champions League
Although we have already spelled out how Bayern has struggled to win the DFB-Pokal in recent years, it is surely the Champions League that will be the sternest test for Vincent Kompany this season. Only Real Madrid and Milan have won more titles, but there are a number of teams who will fancy their chances this year.
Beating PSG woke everyone up to Bayern’s chances this season, and it has already won enough points to secure at least a playoff berth for the knockout rounds. Automatic qualification should not pose too much of a problem for this team, but the next game away at Arsenal will really show just how possible it might be for Bayern to win the Champions League again.
Ultimate Champions
Bayern might be the undisputed number one in the Bundesliga, but the wealthy owners of clubs from other leagues in Europe have made it far from an obvious favorite for the Champions League in the last few years. Bayern cannot really compete with the buying power of Real Madrid, PSG, and Manchester City – but it is now looking just as good, if not better, than all of them.
Harry Kane has made a difference, but it is the entire squad that has started the season in incredible form. With the (relative) financial constraints compared to some of the other elite clubs in Europe, if Bayern did win the Champions League and complete the set of honors this season, it might well be time to consider the club the ultimate champion of European football.
